New York Minute
by TheUptownGirl
Summary: In a New York minute, everything can change. And in a New York minute, she could lose Vaughn forever.
1. When You Get Somebody To Love You

"Coming! Coming! Coming!" Sydney cried from her bedroom. She wore her blue striped pants with a blue, tight fitting muscle tank top. Her brown hair was tasseled from her restless sleep. Her body ached from remains of a difficult mission but she shook if off as she made her way from her bedroom, awoken by the constant ringing of her doorbell. As she continued down, she realized her barely clothed state. Still away of the constant ringing, she grabbed her white, fluffy house robe. It felt warm against her bare arms. It was so cold that morning and plus, she didn't want whoever was at the door to see her in her pajamas. She tied it lazily around her waist and finally made her way towards the door. "Hello?" She opened it and gasped. "Vaughn!" She pulled the robe tightly against her body and held it shut with her hands at the base of her neck.  
  
"Hiya Syd." He stood, dressed in his black suit pants and a t-shirt. He was facing the wall and his eyes were cast down. Bluntly, he looked like hell. He looked as though he hadn't slept or shaven in days. His face looked scruffy and irresistibly sexy.  
  
"What are you doing here?" She hissed, ushering him into the house, grabbing him by the arm. His skin felt soft and smooth beneath her hands. Normally, she would think twice about touching him but this seemed so urgent. Vaughn would never come and see her. "If anyone saw you-"  
  
"I wasn't followed and you're not under surveillance." He retorted quickly...too quickly. He walked into the house and Sydney shut it tightly behind him and turned to face him and kept walking. "Francie and Will here?" She walked towards the kitchen, motioning for him to follow her.  
  
"No, no." was the response. She didn't know what to say. It was strange having Vaughn in her house. She whipped around quickly and watched his serious green eyes survey the room. "You're never been here."  
  
Vaughn looked at her, realizing that he had been caught, "Yeah but it's nice."  
  
"Thanks." There was a slow pause again. She needed to get down to business. "What are you doing here?" Her feet started to bring her towards the kitchen again, not bothering to wait in front of him for the answer.  
  
"I needed to see you."  
  
She didn't hear him or at least she pretended not hear him. She made way towards her kitchen, trying to sort through the rubbish floating around in her mind. "Do you want some coffee? Tea? What do you drink?"  
  
"Sydney, did you hear me? I needed to see you." His voice sounded more urgent.  
  
She twisted around and stopped walking. Her body drifted into a cold sweat and his heart began to pound. In short, she went into shock. "What?" She hushed her voice. Horrible images went through her mind. Sloane finding out about her being CIA...her mother and her father's relationship, Sark and the CIA, antidote...they're were too many things that could of gone wrong at that moment. "Did something happen? Is everyone alright? What's going on?"  
  
He moved towards her and tried to silent her. "Everybody's okay. There's nothing going on. Relax. I just needed to see you." He repeated, slowing down and emphasizing each word. He moved closer and took her in his arms with no resistance.  
  
"What is it?" Her voice sounded so frantic against his calm voice. "What? Vaughn?" The brown eyes searched for the answers in the green eyes that starred down at her. She couldn't help but notice how close they truthfully were. His arms fit around her well waist and rested comfortably around her hips.  
  
"This." He spoke so softly. Her guardian angel pulled her even closer and pressed his lips to hers and began to-  
  
Her eyes jumped open at the sound of a siren in the still of the night. Sydney jumped up, gasping for breath. She had pulled the covers tightly to her chest. Not sure what she would see, she glanced slowly to the other side of her full bed. There was no one there. It had all been a dream. Vaughn had never come to her place and he had never kissed her. She sighed and relaxed a little bit. "Just relax. It was nothing. It was because you were watching that stupid movie until midnight." She whispered aloud, trying to reason out her dream. "Just relax." Wondering what time it was, she looked towards her alarm clock....it was four forty-five. "Just great. I have to be at work tomorrow by 8 and it's 4:45. Just wonderful." She set her head back down on the pillow and sighed heavily. She laid on her back with her hands still clutching the covers to her chest. Her body craved more sleep but as she began to drift off again, she heard more sirens whiz past her little house.  
  
"There goes that idea." She spoke aloud again. Frustrated,  
  
she turned over onto her side, facing the rest of the empty bed. Her fingers drummed on the pillow, laying flat beneath her body. She had tossed and turned for most of the night. What time had she really fallen asleep? It wasn't that important. Her thoughts sifted through what she could remember of her dreams. Vaughn's presence was the most predominate. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. She saw every inch of his strong figure before her. He was wearing a wonderfully tailored suit with his hair tasseled. It had been gelled that morning but now, his wonderfully un- calloused hands had redeemed it from its tight state. His green eyes were focused and full of passion for life, for his job, and maybe, just maybe, for her.  
  
*No, I can't think about him anymore! Sydney thought to herself, I need to be over him. I need to be over him!*  
  
Why was it the one person she found solace in was the one man she couldn't have? She had lied to everyone and now, she felt as though she couldn't keep the lies straight. Another sigh escaped her lips again and her thoughts settled back on Vaughn.  
  
Where was Vaughn? Was he happy? Was he healthy? Her eyes got wider as she realized the answer to her questions. Vaughn was still quarantined in the hospital with the deadly virus. Full of frustration, she threw her arms down on the blanket. "I wish I was still sleeping." She shouted at the darkness and sighed disgustingly. She groaned and started to toss and turn. All that accomplished was getting the blankets tangled up around her.  
  
The darkness was getting on her nerves. She sat up. It was futile for her to even attempt more sleep. She ran her fingers through her sleep worn hair, getting caught in the numerous knots that had formed. The worst thing in her life was not SD-6. It was the fact that she was falling for the one person that she wasn't suppose to have feelings for. It would honestly be easier if she had feelings for Dixon or even Marshall. She rolled her eyes. Yeah, her and Marshall would hit the latest clubs and dance till all hours. Yee-haw. She knew that she couldn't control who she fell in love with but she could control her emotions. Things were tucked away into another compartment in her brain. She shook her head and tried to shake the image of Vaughn's smile from her brain.  
  
She went to flop down once more to try to fall asleep but she knew it wasn't worth it. She was wide awake and might as well make herself useful. If she saw him, these thoughts would go away.  
  
She threw the covers off of her chest and set her feet on the ground. The cold traveled up her feet and through her body, causing her to shake a little. She stood up and the cold air hit her like a brick wall. She shuddered once more and started to walk towards her closet. She wore her pajamas, so theoretically, all she had to was change her pants. The tank top was good enough if she had her long black rain jacket on. As she rose, she realized that it was drizzling lightly. The cold wood floor was uncomfortable under her feet but she needed to get to Vaughn, check up on his condition, and come home. An agent concerned about her handler. It was logical.  
  
She made her way to her closet and pulled out a pair of running pants and her running shoes. If she was going to show up, there might as well look as if she was just in the neighborhood, right? She changed quickly and barely bothered to check her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was put up simply into a ponytail and no make-up was put on her face. She made her way towards the kitchen, where she left a note for Francie and Will,  
  
Hi! Left to go and workout..be back around 1-ish. Let's meet for lunch! I'll have my cell with me! Call if you want me to bring anything home! Syd  
  
She smiled with satisfaction. It was perky and to the point. If it had just been Will, she would have added something about Vaughn but she didn't want to go any further than she already had with Francie. That would just complicate things even further...and things sure as hell didn't need to be more complicated than they already were. She took one last glance around the house and grabbed her purse and long, black rain jacket. With no effort, she unlocked and opened the door and braved the rain to make it to her car. She got in and it started easily. At least some things would go right this morning. Before she realized it, she was on her way to see the man in her dreams. 


	2. Waiting to Exhale

VAUGHN  
  
He breathed in and out. And in again and out again. Any second, he expected one of two things to happen. Either death would finally come or the doctor would come rushing in with the antidote in hand. He counted on the first one. He couldn't get his hopes up. He rolled over and his eyes lazily drifted toward the clock posted on the wall. It was 4:59..no wait, it was 5:00. Annoyed with the time, he turned back over towards the wall. In a two hours, the other agents would start to file in. Well, at least those who were so dedicated to their jobs that they lived here, like him. He used to show up to work so early and stay so late. He had no personal life but when Sydney showed up just a few short years ago, he was coming in later and leaving earlier. He would never hesitate to call her and would happily meet her at the warehouse or the pier whenever his cell rang and it was her. He lay there and came to sad realization; he lived for her. Alice hated it. She wanted a real boyfriend and he wanted a real life. He had gone out with her and they had become serious until he broke it off. He remembered happily and regretfully the party he had go to only about three months ago and saw her there. They got to talking and as much as he hate to admit it, he was a little on the drunk side and they ended up getting back together and getting back into their old routines. *Okay, I admit it. I was plastered, he thought and he sighed into the darkness, and trust me, it was the worst freaking hangover of my life.*  
  
Alice was Alice. She was safe and sweet and..okay, she was a little boring. She was not stunning but her touch was comfortable with the exception of her nails. Vaughn felt his body cringe at the remembrance of Alice's long, acrylic nails tracing the outline of his tattoo on his left shoulder. It was worse than nails on a chalkboard, pardon the pun. He shuddered and his mind traveled back to Sydney and all the times he ran out on Alice after a two second cell phone call. It was hard to tell who his life was hardest on; him or his girlfriend. How could he want to love Alice so much but be in love with another woman? It wasn't fair to either of them, Sydney or Alice, or even himself.  
  
But Sydney. Breathe in and out  
  
G-d, Sydney.  
  
At least three or four times a month, he couldn't sleep, he wouldn't sleep until he heard his cell ring, saying that she was okay and in LA. He remembered on one than one occasion, he kept his cell phone on his chest, wanting it to ring more with every breath he inhaled. It was a horrible type of want, a type of desire that he wished more than anything he didn't have to experience every so often. There were days in which he wished he never met Sydney Jane Bristow. She made his days easier to get through but his nights that much harder. You always want what you can't have.  
  
Breath in and breath out.  
  
Death obviously wasn't coming as fast as he thought. As he laid in the dark, he reflected on the other, non romantic aspects of his life..his father had been murdered when he was small, so small that he could only remember bits and pieces of him. He remembered his laugh, how it filled the room. His mind drifted through memories, both happy and painful. He remembered standing with his mom in the middle of the room when an agent told them of William Vaughn's death. His mother held his baby sister, the baby of the three Vaughn children, in her arms, while he stood off by the doorway, playing with a new toy. He didn't really know what was going on. His eyes closed and remembered vividly the CIA officer at the door. He had dark hair, cut close to his scalp and wore a black three pieces suit. His voice was so soft and soothing but his words were like glass. He spoke to his mother about what had happened and that his father, away on a "business trip", had been identify. His body was being transferred from Russia, where it had been discovered. Not William Vaughn, just his body. fLaShBaCk OvEr TwEnTy YeArS  
  
sAinTa BaRbArA, CaLiFoRnIa  
  
His mother held his baby sister, the baby of the three Vaughn children, in her arms, while he stood off by the doorway, playing with a new toy. He didn't really know what was going on. His oldest sister, Isabelle had been playing with him. She was a beautiful nine and a half year old (eighteen months older than Vaughn) with long blonde curly hair and dark brown eyes, a gift from her father. Izzy, as she was known to Vaughn and two year old Claire and Vaughn had been playing checkers or something like that.  
  
Izzy and Vaughn stood up and immediately, Izzy gripped Vaughn's shoulder hard in fear. After his mother had melted down to the ground, another agent came into the house and took them aside. He wore a similar suit and as he reached him, put his hands on his hips, pushing his coat jacket aside, revealing the holster attached tightly to his waist. It was the first time either child had ever seen a gun.  
  
"Hiya, guys. You are Michael Vaughn, right? And Isabelle?"  
  
"Yeah, I am." 8 year old Vaughn had replied.  
  
"Yes, sir." Izzy replied, straightening up a little more. She was so mature and was a born ballet dancer, aspiring to dance in a company one day.  
  
"Well, my name is James Calvi."  
  
"Hello, Mr. Calvi." Respect was drilled into them almost on a daily basis by their father  
  
"Call me Jim." The agent sat down on his knees and placed his hand on Vaughn's shoulder.  
  
"Jim, what's going on? Why is maman crying?" Izzy jumped in and asked, receiving a shocked look from Vaughn.  
  
"Well, you know how you're father hasn't been home for a long time?"  
  
"Five and a half weeks." Little Vaughn recited.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And?" Isabelle jumped in, not sure how to react. She kept her tone steady, knowing in her heart that she had to be strong for her brother.  
  
Jim cleared his throat uncomfortably and his eyes bounced around the house, "Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you this but-"  
  
"My father's dead isn't he?" Vaughn always thought quickly. "He was never in New York. He was working."  
  
Izzy took a small step back in horror as the pieces fell into place at the same time.  
  
"I'm so sorry." Jim responded. He leaned forward and hugged him tightly as Vaughn let the tears stream down his face. Isabelle was the next to be embraced. Things had changed so quickly. He let go of Jim and turned to Izzy. She was sobbing just as hard and seeing her cry, little Vaughn started to as well. Jim hugged him once more and walked over to Felicity. Isabelle and Little Vaughn followed suit. Their mother had collapsed to the ground and was now sobbing inconsolably  
  
"Ah mes enfants. Je suis desolee. Votre papa, il etait un homme marvelous." She managed to choke out and reached out for her children. "Oh my children!" She started to wail in her new tongue, "I am so sorry. Your father! Your father was such a wonderful man!"  
  
"We know maman. We know." Isabelle had responded, taking Vaughn into her arms and then collapsing into their mother's.  
  
"We're gonna be okay. We're gonna be okay." Vaughn said over and over again, feeling the tears cascade over his face.  
  
Felicity straightened up and sniffled slightly. Her lips grazed each of her foreheads as she gave them a quick squeeze, "Come, come." She let go of her crying children and stood up, concentrating on pressing the wrinkles out of her floral skirt. Feeling satisfied with herself, she walked over to the two agents who were congregating in the corner. "So, where do we go from here?" Her accent was heavier than ever. Fleury seemed so far away at that moment but little France was in her living room. "Where do I go? What is to become of my husband? What happens now, with me and my children? Please, my children are the most important thing right now. Do you have someone my children can talk to?"  
  
Felicity Vaughn was so beautiful. She had evergreen colored eyes, darker than his and beautiful blonde/brown hair that was always tied back away from her pale completion. His mother had a tiny waist and was always cooking something she had learned from her grandmother over in France. Her laugh could fill the room and her perfume was the sweetest scent in the world. She was the most beautiful woman in the world or so he thought until a little over a year ago, when he met Sydney. But going back to his original thought train, he, his sisters, and his mother were all okay. They survived through everything, even Vaughn entering the CIA. But he barely knew his father and Isabelle was the same way but Claire. Claire was just baby when he died. At his funeral, she was completely clueless, walking around with a microphone, singing traditional French and American songs. She was sweet. He loved both of his sisters more than anything but..there was a special place in his heart for Isabelle. She and him had a bond since his father's death..raising Claire when his mother refused to get out of bed for days at time. He was the one that both girls dreaded bringing the boys home to. He, essentially became the father figure. Isabelle was always quiet and more reserved. Claire loved life and wanted to try everything and anything. The three Vaughn children could not be more different. He was the romantic, Claire the wild one, and Isabelle the reserved. Isabelle now lived with her husband, John Saxton and their son, Joey in Hawaii, of all places. Claire lived in New York but seemed to always be in LA for some reason or another. Their mother lived in New Mexico. She claimed she couldn't stay anywhere near the LA CIA headquarters. But Claire loved to walk past the building whenever she came to visit. It was almost as if she felt that when she was there, she felt connected to father she never knew. In the present, he laid in bed thinking of how he should call his middle sister and recited the typical conversation would go.  
  
"Hi Claire."  
  
"Michael Brian Vaughn, why haven't you called me? Huh?"  
  
"Been busy."  
  
"Oh bull! You know, mom's been worried sick about you. She hates that you're CIA."  
  
"And she hates that you aren't married!"  
  
"Well..there is this guy."  
  
There were was always a guy. When he called her every month, there was always a guy. The latest one, as of three weeks ago, named William.well, she referred him to as Billy.  
  
That was an interesting conversation. "I know Dad's name was William, so don't you think it's fate?"  
  
"You know Dad would kill him, right?" Her light laugh filled the phone and his heart.  
  
"But you would kill him first." She answered coyly.  
  
His eyes shifted around the dark room and repeated something his father had come up with one night over dinner and repeated when his mother talked about him quitting. "We sell ourselves out to the most unsightly of demons, a want for a different future." He closed his eyes and tried to remember his father's tall stance or the smell of his sweaters but he couldn't He sighed once more and decided that his trip down memory lane was too painful. He didn't want his last moments in life to be painful, in any way, shape or form.  
  
Breathe in and out.  
  
This was the most disgusting living arrangements he had ever lived it. They (being the hospital) had transferred him into the ICU but he had a that disgusting plastic sheeting surrounding him. *This is what goldfish feel like.*  
  
He was attached to all sorts of machines. His heart was being monitored, he had three or four IV's, and he had a tube running above his lip, delivering pure oxygen through his nose. He had to admit, he didn't exactly look attractive.  
  
"Please don't let Sydney see me like this." He closed his eyes and prayed quickly. If he knew her and he did, she would be there in a few hours, with that horrified look at her face. He saw her in his mind's eye and hated what he saw. It was the Joint Task Force medical ward. It was her sitting on the bed across from him, only two days ago. It was when the doctor had told her that she was fine...she hadn't been directly exposed but he, something was wrong with his blood-work. This horrified look came over her face as the doctor told her to go...told her to leave him.  
  
And although he said with false confidence that he said he would be fine, he knew that he was dying. He hadn't felt 100% since Taipei. That something was wrong but he was too proud to admit. He remembered going to the restaurant where Sydney was and ordering that drink and when she questioned the waitress, she turned around and saw him standing there. The look at her face was indescribable. She looked like angel. Her honey brown eyes lit up and she smiled brightly. He had called her cell and....  
  
He sighed again. Something needed to take his mind off of his body and of Sydney. He turned away from the wall and the window that he had curled up against. The nurses had turn on the radio, which blasted through the silence.  
  
But there was nothing. With the exception of the familiar beeping of the machine, there was absolute silence. And part of him, wished that the machine would stop beeping. Sure, that would mean that he would die but it would be easier to die a quick, painless death rather than a horrifying death that Sydney had spoken of. Why had he asked questions about what she saw in the damn hospital?  
  
Breathe in and out. There was a familiar foot pattern outside of the glass door and as he attempted to sit up, his body became weak and he rocked back and forth until he head hit the pillow once again. His eyes attempted to scan the room but it was too dark to see. He could only sit and pray that it wasn't the one person he was thinking of.  
  
Syndey. 


	3. Hold My Hand

"Vaughn?" The door opened a familiar voice filled the room.  
  
"You shouldn't have come, Syd." He responded coldly.  
  
"I know but I couldn't not come."  
  
"It's five o'clock." The tone of his voice scolded her.  
  
"Couldn't sleep." She felt like she was a five year old that got her hand caught in the cookie jar. I couldn't not come.  
  
"Yeah, I know." His heart started to do summersaults and his tone lightened "Hey, could you..turn on the light? I can't sit here in the dark anymore."  
  
She made her way towards the bed and flicked the overhead light on. "Okay." Suddenly, she was so grateful that she had come. His body was turning on, basically turning itself inside out and if she didn't find an antidote soon.... "Can I?" She motioned towards the stool, sitting innocently nearby.  
  
"Yeah." He attempted to sit up, lying on his back.  
  
"No, don't." She turned back to him, fought through the plastic and pressed him back down to bed. His skin felt exceedingly warm to her touch. "You need to stay down. I just came to see you." She wasn't suppose to be there but it was okay.  
  
"I'm glad." He settled down and managed to smile up at her. That smile made everything worth while. It made her stubborn knees shake and her heart flutter faster than ever before.  
  
Her body turned back towards the stool and sat down upon it. Her form felt tired all of a sudden. Maybe because it was so early? "How did you sleep?"  
  
He wanted to be honest with her. He wanted to tell her how he loved her and how afraid he was that he would die because of her mother. That her mother had managed to kill all of the men in the Vaughn family line. How he loved Alice but he would he would leave her in a second. But a partial lie escaped his lips. "I've had better nights."  
  
"I hear that." She sighed and rested her head on her hands that were propped up on her knees. "I didn't sleep."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"It's not important."  
  
"It is important." Vaughn pressed her.  
  
"Fine. I was worried about you." She admitted, letting the blush flood her pale face. No, she felt like a teenager that had been caught after partying all night.  
  
"You shouldn't be. You're going to Malaysia in a few hours."  
  
"I know but still. It doesn't stop me from worrying about you."  
  
"And it never stops me from worrying about you." Vaughn tilted his head to the side.  
  
"I'm always safe." Sydney responded and watched his tired green eyes flicker with every breath. She straightened up and starred at him for a moment. She opened her mouth to speak but quickly decided against it.  
  
"What?" he asked drowsily.  
  
"I don't want to go." She admitted finally. "There, I said it. I feel so guilty, Vaughn. If I hadn't gone radio silent in Taipei, then you wouldn't have come after me and then Khasinau wouldn't have caught you and then-"  
  
"Sydney, stop it." His voice was a little more firm. He continued to sit up a little but failed.  
  
"You stay." She advanced forward again and pressed him down onto the bed.  
  
He admitted defeat. "You know you need to go."  
  
"Yeah, I know."  
  
Vaughn signed again.  
  
"Are you in pain?"  
  
"No, no." He looked away from her eyes. "It's just that-"  
  
"What is it?" Sydney jumped in.  
  
"Well, basically...this is gonna be the first op that you...well you see...if you're in trouble, it's my duty to bail you out and while you're away, I never know if I need to bail you out. And I wont' be there this time."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Let's just say I sleep with my cell very close to my pillow."  
  
Sydney forced herself to laugh. It filled the space between them. She was exhausted and tried not to let it show. She had to assume it was the drugs talking. He was on very high doses of morphine to numb is failing body.  
  
"This is your first op for us that I won't be there on the other end making sure you're okay."  
  
"No..Weiss filled in for you once." She looked at him with the purest looking of eyes. It would so easy to flirt with him, to want him, to want to feel his touch against her body but it couldn't work. She tilted her head to the side and let her hair grace her shoulder. "And did a rather crappy job, compared to you. But he did fill in for you." Damn, she was flirting with him!  
  
"Doesn't count." He smile even broader and even managed to laugh lightly. "Definitely doesn't count."  
  
"Whatever you say." *I'll listen to you and follow you like a helpless puppy dog*, she thought. "Well, I uh, I guess I should get going. You look like you need some sleep." She went to get up but he grabbed her wrist. His touch was reassuring sensation she had felt in such a long time. She hadn't felt close to anyone, not since Noah.  
  
"Hang on. Please, wait. Don't go."  
  
"What?" She was shocked that he wanted her around but she was pleasantly surprised.  
  
"I've never asked you for anything Syd but please, don't leave me alone."  
  
"Don't be afraid. You're gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine." She sat back down on the bed and held his hand tightly in both of hers. They had only felt each other's touch a select amount of times. She loved the way his soft skin felt on hers. She never dreamed that first day that should start to have feelings for him.  
  
He felt her nails but didn't cringe at her nails. Her touch was sweet and simple.  
  
She fought the tears coming rapidly to her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere."  
  
"Please Sydney. Don't go." He watched her for a few moments, debating if he should tell her what he was thinking. "I just need you to stay for a few minutes. I'm..I'm....I'm scared. I don't want to die."  
  
He admitted this to her and tears sprang to both of their eyes. "You're gonna be fine." Her voice started to shake.  
  
"If I...if I die...I want you to know-" He attempted to keep his voice steady.  
  
"Vaughn, please don't talk like that."  
  
It wouldn't be so bad to get into an argument with her. She was fun to argue with. She was that girl in high school that did so much and was so outspoken, every guy had a crush on her but would never ask her out because they were scare that she would scream or threaten a debate on women's rights issues. No, he had to keep his voice strong as he said this. "If I die, I want you to know that I wouldn't change anything. I would never change joining the CIA or becoming your handler. I wouldn't change a thing." Tears started to glaze over his eyes and one threatened to roll down his cheek.  
  
Her face was already moist with tears..tears he wanted so desperately to wipe them away. She wanted to say something but the wrong thing came out. "I spoke to my mother."  
  
He didn't know why he felt so angry at hearing this. Maybe it was because he wanted her to admit the same thing. "You what? Sydney!" His cheeks began to blush a little. "Well, so did I."  
  
"That's where you collapsed." She responded in a matter-the-fact toe. "She told me where the antidote is and it's in Malaysia. She thinks as soon as I get it, you're gonna be fine. Vaughn, don't think for a second that I'm gonna let you go that easily. The assigned me a handler that first day and they told me that his soul job would be to look out for me. Well, I'm. I'm gonna get the antidote and you'll see, you're gonna be driving everyone nuts again. I won't let you..let you.." She couldn't bring herself to say it and sighed despite of herself. "You know, I'm always so good at keeping my emotions in check! G-d!"  
  
He wanted to harp on something remotely funny. "I drive everyone nuts?" He coughed again.  
  
"Well, you drive Francie nuts as Joey's pizza."  
  
He laughed lightly again. The medication was taken a hold of his frail body. "Not exactly the best idea that Devlin came up with. One day, let's say that you and I go find Joey's Pizza. I'm sure there's one somewhere."  
  
She smiled sadly. "Sounds good. Make up for that hockey game or the restaurant we never went to." She shifted her weight on her thigh and almost made a move to leave. "I'll letcha go back to sleep. And remember, I'll hold you to that promise." She got up but was promptly stopped.  
  
He held onto her again. His body shook from the pain he was admit. "Stay for just a few minutes...I don't need sleep that badly. I was asleep for forty hours...I don't need sleep." Vaughn repeated again, his eyelashes were fluttering.  
  
"I'll stay until you fall asleep, how's that?"  
  
"Quoi s'agit-il?" He murmured quietly as his eyes started to close. *What's it all about?"  
  
"Il s'agit d'amour." Sydney responded. *It's all about love.*  
  
"Yeah," he sighed contently. "It's all about love." He took one last look at her and his eyes fluttered shut. He was out cold.  
  
She sat there for a moment, listening to his breath and watching his chest rise and fall. He was so peaceful when he slept. She sat in the hospital almost alone but she had Vaughn right in her owns hands and all she could do was sit there and hold onto him tightly.  
  
Lying here in the darkness  
  
I hear the sirens wail  
  
Somebody's going to emergency  
  
Somebody's going to jail  
  
When you get somebody to love in this world  
  
You better hang on tooth and nail  
  
The wolf is always at your door  
  
In A New York Minute  
  
Anything can change 


End file.
